Topic 3 Flashcards
What issue did Germany face if it were put in a war situation
In working out a war plan, Count Alfred von Schlieffen had to face the possibility that Germany would have to fight a war on two fronts - against Russia in the east and France in the west.
Describe the Schlieffen plan
Schlieffen believed that Russia would probably take about 6 weeks to mobilise. This would give the German army extra time to attack and defeat France. They would invade France by travelling at high speed through Belgium and northern France and attack Paris. However this did not work and it failed.
Plan 17
Plan by the French to capture Alsace-Lorraine
Why did the Schlieffen plan fail?
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) slowed the Germans down for 48 hours
French armies failed to re-capture Alsace Lorraine in Plan 17 but slowed Germany down by 2 weeks
Russia mobilised quicker than Germany anticipated and they invaded eastern Germany, forcing Germany to move from the Western Front to the east to defend the eastern borders.
Germany was not strong enough to take Paris, and it swung east towards the River Marne. There, they clashed with the French forces retreating from Alsace-Loraine
Outcome of the Schlieffen plan
Neither side could advance their trenches by more than a few kilometres for the next 4 years of war. There was a stalemate on the western front.
Why was there deadlock in the trenches
Failure of the German Schlieffen
Strength of defences
Ineffective weapons
The mud
Lack of new tactics
Schedule of soldiers
4 days spend in the front-lines, 4 days in the support trenches, and 8 days in reserve trenches and 14 days resting
Life in the trenches
Very boring
Night was a time of silence and fear
Letters sent by soldiers were censored
Dirt and disease in trenches
Flanders was a sea of mud
Men got trench foot from standing in the dirty mud all day long
Feet got gangrenous and amputation was needed to treat it (20,000 in the British Army alone suffered from gangrene)
Very dirty in trenches: lots of lice and rats
Casualties in trenches
The fear and threat of sudden death hung over every soldier; either from a sniper or from a planned attack
Thousands were killed or wounded in every battle
No treatment to wounds - antiseptics were developed in the 1930s
Shell shock was common among soldiers
Some men were shot for deserting the battle - 346 British soldiers were shot for desertion
Reasons why stalement was broken
Aircrafts
Dog fights
Machine guns
Artillery
Gas
Tanks
Aircrafts
British Royal Flying Corps and Imperial German Flying Corps used planes and observation balloons as the eyes of their armies
Dog Fights
Dog fights between fighter planes over the Western Front were common. By 1918, the Great Powers were, altogether, using over 10,000 planes at the front line and over 50,000 airmen had been killed.
Machine Guns
Machine guns were able to kill whole battalions. They developed as well (for eg. the British Vickers Machine gun). However both the British and Germany were using similar guns, so the stalemate increased on the Western front.
Artillery
The largest gun was made by Germany (Big Bertha). The British developed a fuse in 1916 that caused shells to explode, allowing them to get past barbed wires. By 1917, these fuses were used a lot on the Western Front
Gas
The Germans first used poisonous gas in the second battle of Ypres. Gas was unreliable though. In damp weather, the gas would slowly move around at knee height. If the wind changed direction, soldiers could gas themselves.
This caused them to develop a gas alarm system along with gas masks
Tanks
50 tanks showed up in the battle of Somme but were not useful. At the battle of Cambrai, though, more than 400 Mark IV tanks smashed their way through German trenches which pushed the Germans behind 8km in 3 days
The Battle of Somme (July-November 1916)
Lasted 4 months long.
Germans knew that Britain and France would want to attack, so they were ready. When the British began crossing no man’s land, a German surprise attack suddenly occurred. Many people (620,000 allied soldiers and only 450,000 Germans) died and only 15km was advanced on the Western Front.
The Battle of Passchendaele (July-November 1917)
The British were stuck in the mud due to Haig’s eagerness to continue advancing despite the thick mud. Slow progress by Britain lead the huge casualties. The allies were able to capture the village of Passchendele. 240,000 British soldiers died and 220,000 German soldiers died.
What was General Douglas Haig called
‘Butcher of the Somme’ vs ‘Man who won the war’
General Haig’s advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
-Relieved the pressure on the French at Verdun by starting the Somme Offensive
-Masterminded the British victory at Messines
-Drew German forces away from the Nivelle offensive by drawing an attack on German lines
Disadvantages:
-Battle of Passchendaele resulted in huge casualties
-60,000 casualties on the first day of the battle of the Somme
-Willing to experiment with the use of tanks to break the stalemate (waste of resources)
